


The Regret

by joonfired



Series: The Adventures of a Single Dad in Space [12]
Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Angry Dad, Annoyed Mandalorian, Found Family, Gen, ManDadlorian, Mando can kick everyone's asses except Obiwan, Mando get yourself a decent babysitter dude, Mercenaries, New Republic, Other, Parent-Child Relationship, RIP Davan, S1E6 Mandalorian spoilers, This Is The Way, Twi'leks (Star Wars), a vengeful Mando is a beautiful thing to watch, but I love how firm his moral code is, don't mess with a Mando and his kid, k why is everyone assuming Xi'an is Mando's ex?, ngl I hate Xi'an, single dad in space, which I take and run with, why aren't there any more fics about this episode??, yay finally backstory!!, you ignorant Twi'lek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-14
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:55:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21793366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joonfired/pseuds/joonfired
Summary: Mando takes a job and instantly regrets it
Relationships: Baby Yoda & The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV)
Series: The Adventures of a Single Dad in Space [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1549036
Comments: 39
Kudos: 519





	The Regret

**Author's Note:**

> honestly why can't Mando get a healthier hobby for his son like gambling  
> why does he have to keep running into weird people and endangering his son??  
> also I truly hate Xi'an and idk why people assume they had a fling  
> in my opinion of initial viewing she's just salty he won't let her get into his beskar pants

The Mandalorian hated being desperate.

He stood with his arms crossed, watching as the old crew he’d run with as a fresh culvert-stepper quickly took over the ship. If he didn’t need the credits, he wouldn’t be here.

“How’s the trip down memory lane, mm?” Xi’an crooned at him, her tongue running over pointed incisors.

“Not good,” he replied dryly.

She cackled and brushed past with a twitch and flip of her lennek, replaced by Mayfeld with a silver crate in his arms. The Mandalorian wondered why they needed so much gear for a break-in, and frowned behind his visor.

“Eyes up top, bucket,” Mayfeld snapped.

The Mandalorian closed his eyes and envisioned punching all four of them off his ship. Well, he’d probably put a blaster shot through the droid’s brain.

_ It’s for the credits to keep the kid safe, _ he told himself. And it would be over soon.

Hopefully.

After he closed the door across Ran’s cheeky farewell, the Mandalorian went for the cockpit. He may not have much say about the droid poking itself into the workings of his ship, but nothing was said about making sure it didn’t poke around too much.

However, that didn’t last long. He was ordered away in all but specific terms, the grating vocalizations of the droid scraping his nerves raw with annoyance.

Why had he turned to Ran?

The Mandalorian lowered himself down the cockpit hatch just in time to see that Devaron all up in his armory. He ended that exploration with a swift jab to the control panel on his vambrace, and that’s when they turned on him.

That was the moment he regretted contacting Ranzar at all.

He remembered it all from those years ago —the same consuming curiosity to remove his beskar. The laughter and mocking, as if the Way was all a big joke to them. As if his life was their special comedy.

So when the Devaron went for his helmet, the Mandalorian was more than happy to fight. He wanted to break their teasing grins and burn their laughter. He punched and grappled, though it was clear that his strength was no match for the red-skinned being.

He was flung into the panel concealing the child for the job, something so far the kid had been good and quiet about.

“What’s this?” Mayfeld stood up. “Didn’t take you for the kind for a pet.”

The Mandalorian tensed when Mayfeld picked the child up so casually. And he could not resist the instinct to catch the child when the man made as if to drop it, which earned him another bout of laughter.

“Exiting hyperspace,” the droid warned exactly one second before the ship lurched sharply to the side.

The Mandalorian’s pained exclamation was drowned out by the protests of the others as the  _ Razor Crest _ groaned through the maneuvers that damn droid was putting it through. He found the child on the ground and hunkered over it, bracing himself but curling one arm protectively around the kid.

When he stood up, he held the child carefully, eyeing the others through his visor.

If anyone tried to touch the kid again, that was it. Goodbye. Have fun floating breathless in the black. He’d do the job himself . . . wait, he didn’t know who they were retrieving.

Well, then job over and back to credit hunting.

“Right, let’s do this,” Mayfeld said, bouncing a little on the balls of his feet.

Soon they were inside the in-transport prison, all white halls and grim-eyed prisoners and black droids. It was a nightmare that the Mandalorian couldn’t wait to escape.

But fighting droids would do in the meantime. Punching through steel heads and ripping metal-jointed limbs was quite the tension-relieving method. And it shut the others up, though it didn’t stop Xi’an’s leering eyes.

Stars, _ this _ was why he left. He’d thought he could make them his kin, but they only had hearts for themselves. They didn’t care, he cared, and that was the divide between them that they could not understand.

It was proven even more when Xi’an threw a slashing knife across the New Republic soldier’s throat, jump-starting a ticking clock she shrugged off too easily.

The Mandalorian didn’t like this. And he definitely didn’t like the prisoner they found, someone who’s position he’d tipped off for credits. Until the kid, almost everything had been about the next job, the next payload, and nothing else.

However now he had one true kin: the child. It had wriggled and cooed its way into his heart until it was unremovable, and he wouldn’t change a thing.

And he should have seen this betrayal coming sooner, the Devaron throwing him roughly into the cell. His one blaster shot pinged around the magnetically-sealed walls, and he yelled his frustration. He would allow himself one moment of selfish, unbridled rage . . . but no more.

After his escape and successful hunt, the Mandalorian shoved Qin into the ship and cuffed him to a wall. He went for the child, only to find it cornered by the bug-eyed droid, which he promptly shot before picking the child up and holding it close.

This was the reason he went through so much, why he bore the blows to his pride and caved to desperation. This small creature with innocent-ancient eyes and tiny hands that clung to his gloves and that small voice babbling nonsensically at him.

“Let’s go get our money, hmm?” he said as he climbed into the cockpit.

**Author's Note:**

> okay ep6 was such a cool episode but I hated all the mercs  
>  _ALL OF THEM_
> 
> also this is my worst drabble ever but I just wanted to explore the Mando's thoughts for this ep  
> cause it was wild  
> and I'm sure he hated almost every second of working with these people  
> cause I'm sure he actually kinda enjoyed ripping apart droids and my gosh I kinda got a lil turned on by that oof
> 
> I'm definitely going to explore this ep more in future fics/drabbles  
> so hit me up with inspiration cause I'm always thirsty for that lol


End file.
